{"id":631220,"date":"2026-04-26T03:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631220\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T03:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:11:09","slug":"the-bits-the-scores-and-final-ranking-dont-reveal-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631220\/","title":{"rendered":"The bits the scores and final ranking DON\u2019T reveal \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow marks the official release of Australian Golf Digest\u2019s biennial Top 100 Golf Courses ranking<\/a>, which is a day when we used to jokingly say in our office was a good time to flee to Mallorca, Christopher Skase-style.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Back with a vengeance<\/a><\/p>\n

The unveiling of the ranking \u2013 the 2026-2027 edition is the 20th list and therefore its 40th anniversary<\/a> \u2013 is always an eagerly talked-about moment in local golf circles but also one when we need to face the music. Already there\u2019s been some online chatter<\/a>, as subscribers began receiving the May issue of the magazine late last week. I\u2019ve already put one pundit in his place for suggesting one higher-ranked course received its position thanks to the supposed \u201cfreebies\u201d on offer. (Ironically, our panellists paid a fairly hefty green fee to play at the course in question.)<\/p>\n

They\u2019re lazy, knee-jerk takes made without full information, but not unexpected in a world where that\u2019s sadly part and parcel of everyday life. As is often said, appraising golf courses is like critiquing art \u2013 one golfer\u2019s Picasso is another\u2019s kindergarten-level finger painting.<\/p>\n

Much like the twits we correct on Twitter<\/a>, though, we strive for accuracy and clarity while recognising that\u2019s a two-way street. Which is why we are more than happy to explain our methodology.<\/p>\n

The process for ranking Australia\u2019s Top 100 Golf Courses has evolved over the years<\/a> but it\u2019s also been refined. With a much larger panel of judges generating a much larger bank of overall course-evaluation data, we feel it\u2019s as bulletproof a system as it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n

Not that any ranking is truly bulletproof; however, if the 2022 and 2024 lists are any indication, we get less pushback now than ever before, meaning we can cancel the flights to Mallorca.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Why better vegetation and improved biodiversity is the logical new ground for golf courses<\/a><\/p>\n

Part of that is the depth of course-evaluation data \u2013 more of it than ever before. Our panel of 271 judges lodged 7,899 separate evaluations across 824 different courses. Of those evaluations, nearly 4,000 were provided for courses that didn\u2019t make the Top 100. Our panel is tasked with the instruction to avoid focusing too heavily on the elite courses alone and instead to view every course as a potential contender for either the main ranking or the \u201cNext 100\u201d list<\/a> (which will be updated in the June issue). As such, in the period from March 2024 to February this year they inspected courses as remote as Dungog and Denmark, Padthaway and Pemberton, Millmerran and Magnetic Island.<\/p>\n

Want to know how your course fared across the spectrum of our seven judging criteria<\/a>? Or perhaps how your course scored this time compared to 2024? Ask your club\u2019s general manager or head pro to email me at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> for more details. We\u2019re more than happy to pass them on.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Top 100 Courses ranking \u2013\u00a040 years at the top<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, this was a ranking window with a difference.<\/p>\n

Yes, the much-anticipated debut of 7 Mile Beach\u2019s first course<\/a> will attract attention, as will a new (at least compared to last time) No.1. However, what makes this ranking different is the return of five courses that were deliberately omitted last time due to the scope of renovation work taking place. The re-inclusion of Huntingdale, Royal Sydney<\/a>, Commonwealth<\/a>, Mount Lawley and (at long last) Links Kennedy Bay<\/a> added gravitas to the 2026 list, even if it did cost many courses in the second half of the list half-a-dozen or so ranking spots.<\/p>\n

Major overhauls have become a growing trend in golf-course architecture in Australia<\/a>, so it comes as no surprise that omissions then returns are a rising feature of our biennial lists. Greeting five courses back in one hit might turn out to be a little unusual, or it might be perfectly normal. Time will tell.<\/p>\n

Time will also tell if more courses can penetrate the uber-competitive top 5 and top 10 on our list.<\/p>\n

One thing we do know is, whatever outcomes transpire from our ranking process in 2028, 2030 and beyond, it will happen with transparency. That, and a lot of scoring data.<\/p>\n

For those readers unable to access the links in this article, that\u2019s because they are from the current issue. Links won\u2019t become visible to all until the June issue goes on-sale in late May. Or, to read them now, you can access a digital subscription here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tomorrow marks the official release of Australian Golf Digest\u2019s biennial Top 100 Golf Courses ranking, which is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,305815,755,58312,85],"class_list":["post-631220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australias-top-100-golf-courses","tag-golf","tag-ranking","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}